Tim’s Campaign – Session 4 Podcast
Posted by Fozz
The druid Blindheart has been tainted by a black crystal and after the group destroys it he is released from its power.
New D&D 4E Monster Format
Posted by Fozz
I just read a post over on the D&D website that showed a few examples of the new formatting for the monster stat blocks for D&D 4th Edition. I definitely like the new design as it sorts all the information in a slight easier to use fashion. All of a monster's traits, standard actions, minor actions, and triggered actions are grouped together, which makes it more organized and easier to find it's abilities. Powers also have been changed to have a formatting more similar to a PC's power cards, so each power has an "attack" and "hit" section, etc.
Overall the changes to the monster info block make complete sense and will help DMing run a little more smoothly. Check out a comparison of a Kobold Dragonshield below, side by side.
Player’s Handbook Heroes Set 2 Gallery
Posted by Fozz
The Player's Handbook Heroes Set 2 looks very nice and will make a great addition to any collection. I especially like the Genasi Paladin and Human Swordmage due to their versatility as a wide range of classes.
Sting Review – Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers for Xbox Arcade
Posted by Fozz
Wizards of the Coast and Stainless Games released Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers on the Xbox 360 arcade this week and I have been playing it nonstop. It offers a great Magic experience for the extremely decent price $10, less than 4 booster packs.
The game features several different modes of play. The single player campaign mode allows you to test your skills against increasingly difficult Planeswalkers as you unlock new decks to play with. Magic: The Puzzling offers a series of Magic puzzle where you have to figure out how to win in one turn. A co-op campaign allows two people on the same console play a Two-Headed Giant match versus two planeswalkers. You can also play online via Xbox Live in 2-4 player matches.
Gameplay
They have done a great job of translating the paper and tabletop game to the TV screen and Xbox controller. You can easily flip through your cards pulling your trigger to fly the cards fullscreen and even view card specific rules such as First Strike and Deathtouch, in case you forget, add in the intro tutorial and even Magic newbies will be playing in no time.
They have made the gameplay flow very smoothly for a great arcade feel. Certian things like The Stack are disguised as a brief countdown timer when you play card and spells and each section of your turn is followed in order. I enjoy that I can play a quick game in less than 5 minutes without leaving my house at anytime, either against the very capable AI or a human player matched to my level using the Xbox TrueSkill system. The game is instantly accessible to players of every skill level and that is a great accomplishment given the complexity and depth of Magic.
The game starts with 2 decks to play with and as you defeat different planeswalkers you will unlock a total of 8 decks. Then everytime you win with a deck you unlock 1 of 17 extra cards that can be added into the default decks. It is not completely a customizable deck building system but gives you a few options to beef up your deck of choice. With downloadable content, I expect to see them release extra decks, extra unlockable cards, and new play environments to customize your play experience.
Graphics and Sound
The graphics and interface are very slick and animations are smooth. Spells and effects have subtle animation and sound cues that tell you the state of your cards, such as summoning sickness and tiggered spells. The attack animations are fairly generic as animating every card would have been a nightmare for the developer, but do an adequate job of showing what happens when you attack and defend. Certian spells are given a little extra polish such as Incinerate, which lobs a fireball at your opponents as it burns away their life.
The sound effects do a decent job of giving you audio cues as to what is happening and nothing is over the top. The music score is soft and appropriate but will quickly get old once you hear it over and over, thankfully the Xbox allows you to play your own music in game.
Conclusion
If you love Magic: The Gathering or are even slightly interested in TCGs, I would wholehearted recommend buying this game. It is a steal at only $10, and you will get plenty of play time out of this title. I have been playing all week and can't say enough good things about it.
Indie Gaming Spotlight: Grow
Posted by burninator
Sometimes great things can be simple, very simple. The proof of this is Grow, an indie game series by Eyezmaze. All the Grow games are all based on one simple premise, you start with a blank world, every turn you can add something to that world, and every turn everything previously existing in the world "level ups" and becomes bigger, or better in some way. The trick to solving the puzzle of Grow is to have everything in your world at its highest possible level; which then becomes a simple matter of adding things in the right order. What complicates the whole matter and wherein lies the genius of the game is the fact that the objects interact with each other when they are added. So while one object might just upgrade over time, another object might require something else to be added to "level it up." Conversely, an object might destroy another if it is added too early or at the wrong time. This cause and effect style of gaming ends up being real fun and considering Eyezmaze has animations for all of the different combinations(even for the completely wrong combinations) you'll be tempted to replay the game again and again tell you solve the puzzle. Even then you might play on still just to see the hilarious results of the mismatches. Like the gameplay, the animation is incredibly simple but very effective. The little people that inhabit and live in your little world are truly a joy to watch and see them react to your new additions and the ever evolving landscape.
There are 6 full length Grows to date: Grow 1-3, Grow Cube, Grow RPG, and Grow Island. One of note is Grow RPG, where you slowly build a little RPG world for your hero to adventure in, and only when everything is fully leveled up can the hero finally make it to the end and defeat the final boss. Truly an experience that is not to be missed.
All games can be played, for free, on www.eyezmaze.com
Indie Gaming Spotlight: The Chzo Mythos
Posted by burninator
Before Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw became an internet celebrity with his gaming review show, Zero Punctuation, he was an indie game designer. While he made several series during his bout as a game maker, his most famous and by far best was his quadrilogy known as The Chzo Mythos. These 2D point n' click adventures showcase Ben's incredible knack for story telling, atmosphere, and horror. Do not be fooled by his low-bit drawings, by the third game he masters the use of sound and timing to create a truly scary game with very limited resources.
5 Days A Stranger
The first game puts you as a thief who attempts to keep a sense of morals, Trilby. When a routine robbery of an abandoned mansion turns into a nightmare, he finds himself trapped in the mansion with four other unlucky people. To make matters worse, a killer is lurking the mansion killing off the group one by one. While the plot may seem like a stereotypical slasher flick, the game is anything but. Ben pays homage to the slasher genre at every turn, particularly to a certain Jason Voorhees, but his story telling never goes to that level; his characters are interesting and rounded and the secrets surrounding the mansion are defiantly worth discovering. The puzzles aren't very hard, so people looking for a challenge will go away disappointed but the richness of the story will keep most people's interest tell the end.
7 Days A Skeptic
The second game takes a leap forward in the mytho's time line, a big leap. For 400 years, the powerful evil of the killer's soul has been kept contained, but when a star ship stumbles upon a casket in the middle of space, the whole nightmare starts again. You play as the ship's psychologist, Johnathan Somerset, and his desperate struggle for survival. After taking a shot at slasher films, Ben moves on to make a game reminiscent of many sci-fi horror movies. The result is just as glorious. The narrow hallways of the ship make for a tense environment and you will quickly find out some members of the crew weren't exactly mentally stable before the casket arrived.
Trilby's Notes
The third game deviates from the rest of the series not only in title, but also in game play. While the other three have been standard point n' clicks, this game features a type entry system that harkens back to the old King's Quest games. Also while the first two games a relatively light on scares, I can genuinely say Trilby's Note is one of the scariest games I have ever played. If you play this game with the lights on, your just doing yourself an injustice. This is also the point where the story takes a dramatic turn from being about a single stereotypical horror villain, into an epic tale that seems to be pulled straight from a Lovecraft novel. The music has been amped up too, instead of pulling tracks from RPG Maker like he did in previous games, the amazing Mark Lovegrove has composed a wonderfully haunting score that will give you the chills, so make sure you play with the volume up. Read more below.
Game and Movie Night
Posted by Fozz
This Friday we will be playing games and then going to see the 9pm Watchmen.
Starting around 3pm, your welcome to come over and hang out. Magic, Catan, and anything else, so bring a game if you want.
If you would like to come for the games or only the movie, just leave a comment below.
UPDATE: Movie only, no games.
The Buzz: Mirror’s Edge
Posted by Fozz
I have heard of this game for a while and honestly wasn't very excited about it. I thought the graphics looked bland, gameplay too simple, and overall not very exciting. Well, they released a demo for Mirror's Edge on the 360 yesterday and after I played it I can honestly say that this is one of the most fun games I have played and I can't wait for it.
The graphics are simple and the color mostly white and grey, but that actually makes for a really interesting gameplay element, because red objects point out a possible path for you to take. So after playing it, they graphics are really quite beautiful and the motion is so smooth, it really feels like you are doing it.
The gameplay is amazing and it is actually really fun. I found myself trying it over and over just to make it one smooth continuous motion, maybe that's a little OCD, but it was fun 
. It has that Prince of Persia feel to it, where you are jumping up ledges and running along walls, but does it so much better and feels more fluid. I think it may be due to the first person perspective and how you only see your arms and legs. I also like how it handles confrontation. Usually most games have you do an puzzle/acrobatic section, then a fight section, well in Mirror's Edge when you encounter a confrontation you have to figure out how to use the acrobatics to escape. If you are faced with an opponent you can't pass, your character deftly disarms them and disposes of the weapon. It is really cool and lots of fun.
So if you have a moment give the demo a try, it is quite amazing. Click below to see a video.
D&D Mini Preview: Demonweb
Posted by Fozz
Wizards release the first preview of their upcoming Demonweb set of minatures. First, is a Spiderbound Drow Warrior, that has a spider on his shield that crawls off and attacks nearby foes.
Spiderbound Drow Warrior
Next we have the Shadow Flayer, that is equiped with a spear and shadow cloak that can turn him invisible, so he can sneak up on you and suck your brain out. There are several mindflayers in this set, which I am excited for since I don't have any yet.
Shadow Flayer
The last preview is of a big fat demon called Solamith. This nasty demon takes huge chucks of its own flesh and hurls it at you. The souls that are trapped in his flesh cause them to explode into a ball of fire on impact. I really like the concept of this creature, but the model is a little bland to me.
Solamith
I'm still looking for local players to play with so if you are interested, let me know.
Wizards releases D&D Miniatures Adventure
Posted by Fozz
Wizards of the Coast released a cool little adventure for D&D minis that can be played solo or 2 players. I looked it over and it seems pretty cool. I really like the idea of involving a short story with your D&D mini battles.
It can be played with any minis you have and comes with the cards for you to print out, in case you don't have the exact ones needed.
I will have to give it a play through, but I like the concept and look forward to more adventures published this way. Download it here.
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